Five more hours crawled by.
The sun moved across the sky, afternoon light turning golden and warm. John tracked it through the gaps in the ruined buildings, watching shadows shift and lengthen. Time passed differently in a cage. Slower. Each minute stretched into an eternity of discomfort and boredom.
He heard beast folk passing by occasionally. Conversations drifted to his ears, most of it mundane logistics.
"Only males left unsold. Figures."
"Nobody wants male slaves unless they're buying cheap labor."
"Or they're into that specifically. You know the type."
"Ugh. Don't remind me. Gooners are worldwide, I swear."
John grimaced. So even in fantasy worlds, certain universal truths applied. Great. Just great.
But the conversations also reminded him of a more immediate problem. He was starving.
His stomach cramped painfully, growling loud enough that other slaves in nearby cages glanced over. When was the last time he'd eaten?
Did slaves get food here? Or were they expected to just survive on nothing until they were sold?
Another hour passed. John's hunger went from uncomfortable to painful. His mouth was dry. His head ached. The combination of dehydration and starvation was making everything fuzzy at the edges.
Then movement. Something approaching his cage.
John looked up and blinked. Another femboy beast folk, but this one was different. Wrong, somehow. The proportions were the same, the general aesthetic familiar, but the details were off.
The creature's body was covered in short, sleek fur that looked almost waterproof. Dark gray on top, lighter on the belly. The face was elongated slightly, with a snout that wasn't quite wolf or fox or cat. And the hands. John stared at the hands. They were webbed. Actual webbing between the fingers.
A duck? No, wait. Birds were a different classification, weren't they?.
Some kind of aquatic mammal? Otter? Seal?
The creature tilted its head at John, studying him with large, dark eyes. Then it skittered closer to the cage, moving on all fours despite having a humanoid body. The movement was fluid, natural, like it was equally comfortable vertical or horizontal.
"Hey," John said, his voice rough from thirst. "Hi. Can you understand me?"
The creature tilted its head the other way. Made a sound. Something between a bark and... something else. A chirp? A whistle? John couldn't identify it.
Not speech. Definitely not speech.
"Can you talk?" John tried again. "Do you speak?"
Another head tilt. Another strange vocalization. The creature moved closer, pressing its face against the cage bars, sniffing. Curious. Not aggressive, just investigating.
A feral, then? Had to be. Couldn't speak, made animal sounds, moved like an animal. But it wasn't attacking. Wasn't showing aggression. Just curiosity.
Wait. Lui had said beast folk were split into Advanced and Feral. But what about hybrids? What if this was a mix of two different beast folk species? Was that even possible? Could you have a wolf-seal hybrid or whatever this was? And if so, would the offspring be Advanced or Feral or somewhere in between?
John's stomach chose that moment to growl. Loud. Painfully loud.
The creature's ears perked up. It looked at John's stomach, then at John's face. Then it turned and skittered away, moving with surprising speed on all fours.
Huh. Well, that was that. So much for—
Twenty minutes later, the creature returned.
It carried something in its mouth. A loaf of bread. Actual bread, still relatively fresh looking, clutched carefully between its teeth like a dog carrying a prize.
The creature approached John's cage and set the bread down. Then it pulled out a small knife, the kind used for eating, and sawed off a large piece. Maybe a quarter of the loaf. With surprising dexterity despite the webbed fingers, it pushed the piece through the bars of John's cage.
John stared. At the bread. At the creature. At the bread again.
"You... you're giving this to me?"
The creature chirped. Sat back on its haunches, watching John with those big dark eyes. Waiting.
John grabbed the bread with shaking hands. It was real. Solid. He tore off a piece and shoved it in his mouth, barely chewing before swallowing. The taste was incredible, plain bread had never tasted so good. He ate half the piece in seconds, forcing himself to slow down before he made himself sick.
"Thank you," he said through a mouthful of bread. "Seriously. Thank you so much."
The creature tilted its head. Made a pleased sounding noise. Almost like a purr but wetter somehow.
Hey, John thought, warmth spreading through his chest for the first time in days. This is actually kind of nice. Maybe ferals weren't so bad after all. Maybe there was kindness in this world, even from creatures that couldn't—
BANG.
The kick came from nowhere. A massive boot connected with the creature's side, sending it flying several feet. It hit the ground with a pained yelp, tumbling.
A beast folk stood where the creature had been. Wolf features, but massive. Easily seven feet tall, built with heavy muscle that strained against minimal clothing. Gray fur, darker around the muzzle. Eyes that held casual cruelty.
An effective male. Had to be. The size, the presence, the sheer power radiating off him.
"THIS HALF FREAK STOLE MY LOAF!" the wolf roared.
He advanced on the creature, which was trying to scramble away on all fours. Another kick caught it in the ribs. Then another. The creature curled into a ball, making pitiful whimpering sounds.
"Stealing from effective males," the wolf snarled, punctuating each word with another kick. "You fucking degenerate half breed. You worthless mixed blood piece of shit."
He grabbed the creature by the head, lifting it off the ground one handed. The creature's legs dangled uselessly, its vocalizations turning desperate.
"Why the fuck would the chief even allow your kind here?" The wolf's voice dripped with disgust. "Hybrids. Mixing bloodlines. Contaminating pure species. You're an abomination."
"OI!" John found himself yelling before his brain caught up. "Stop! Leave it alone!"
The wolf's head snapped toward him. His eyes narrowed.
"SHUT UP, APE!" He dropped the creature and took a step toward John's cage. "DON'T MAKE ME KILL YOU! I'll rip your fucking head off and sell your corpse for scraps!"
John grabbed the cage bars, trying to shake them, trying to do anything. But the iron was solid. He was trapped. Powerless. Again. Always fucking powerless.
The wolf turned back to the creature, raising his boot for another kick.
"OI! BACK THE FOOK UP!"
A new voice. High pitched but carrying authority. Familiar.
Lui appeared from between two ruined buildings, his tail bristled, his posture aggressive. He put himself between the wolf and the creature, arms spread.
The wolf paused. Looked at Lui. Then his expression shifted from rage to something more calculating.
"Ouuuuh shit," Lui's voice changed completely. The confidence evaporated. His ears flattened against his skull. "Um. Gregor. Hey. Didn't realize it was you. I just. I heard noise and thought—"
"Thought what, lesser?" Gregor's voice was dangerously quiet now. "Thought you'd interfere with effective business? Thought you'd defend a hybrid? A contaminated bloodline?"
"No, I just. The ape was making noise and I came to shut him up and I saw—"
"You saw me disciplining a thief. And you decided to stick your nose in it." Gregor took a step toward Lui. Then another. "You know what happens to lessers who forget their place?"
Lui backed up. His false bravado completely gone now, replaced with genuine fear. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean. I'll just. I'll go—"
"No." Gregor smiled. It was not a nice smile. "I don't think you will."